Protective or hazardous duty garments are widely used in various industries to protect the wearer from hazardous conditions, such as heat, smoke, cold, sharp objects, chemicals, liquids, fumes and the like. For example, foundry workers and others who work with molten metal require garments which protect not only from the high temperatures encountered in their work areas but also from occasional splashes of molten metal, particularly high-melting metals such as aluminum and iron. In such instances, if the molten metal adheres to the garment, a great deal of heat is transferred through the garment to the wearer unless the fabric comprising the garment is so thick as to be excessively cumbersome and uncomfortable to wear.
One example of a protective garment for foundry workers is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,569,088 to Frankenburg et al. which describes a garment prepared from a composite fabric comprised of an outer layer including a needled batt of polytetrafluoroethylene fibers attached throughout its interface by needling with an inner layer of infusible textile fibers selected from the group consisting of poly(m-phenylene isophthalamide) fibers, poly(p-phenylene terephthalamide) fibers and blends thereof. The outer surface is provided to protect the inner durable fabric layer and to provide a surface upon which molten metal splash will not adhere.